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Saturday, Apr 20, 2024

AROUND THE VALLEYS

San Fernando ValleyBURBANKStartup air carrier Avelo Airlines will begin in the fall service to four new destinations from its hub at Hollywood Burbank Airport. The Houston-based airline will begin twice-weekly service between the only commercial airfield in the San Fernando Valley and Provo, Utah, on Sept. 17; with Monterey on California’s Central Coast on Sept. 30; with the Fort Collins–Loveland area in Colorado on Oct. 6; and with St. George, Utah on Oct. 7. One-way fares to Monterey start at $39, while the one-way cost on the three other routes start at $49. “We are pleased and excited to see Avelo expand its service from (Hollywood Burbank) with these four new destinations and continue to enhance the convenience of the airport,” said airport Executive Director Frank Miller.  Quanta Inc. subsidiary Medolife Rx announced it will showcase its pain relief and immunapen product lines at “Tony Hawk’s Vert Alert,” a skateboard competition scheduled for Aug. 27-28 in Salt Lake City. Medolife signed a product endorsement agreement with skateboarder Tony Hawk in June and will attend the first major audience-attended skateboarding competition since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The competition looks to attract more than 8,000 attendees over two days. Medolife will use the competition to relaunch its polarized pain relief products now branded under Aelia. The product line includes muscle rubs and other products that target foot pain, cramps, sun care, migraines and eczema. The competition will mark the first public introduction of the Immunapen brand, which uses Quanta Inc.’s proprietary scorpion peptide formulation to supply energy, focus, stress relief and general immune support.  CALABASASMini USA and Mini Financial Services have selected Otoz as a preferred vendor to enable a digital buying experience at the auto brand’s dealerships. Otoz, a subsidiary of NetSol Technologies Inc., provides the software to power the backend of the Mini Anywhere platform, which allows consumers to pick out a car, work on a trade-in, schedule to pick up the new vehicle and make payments, including the credit and contracting process. The platform went active in late May. Among the five Mini dealerships in California using the Mini Anywhere platform is Mini of Universal City in North Hollywood. Otoz will bring on additional California dealerships before expanding in Florida in coming weeks, according to a release from the company.  PORTER RANCHThe Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has unanimously voted to urge the California Public Utilities Commission to stop Southern California Gas Co. from expanding its natural gas storage capacity at its Aliso Canyon facility. Any increase in gas storage limits at Aliso Canyon would defy the directive by Gov. Gavin Newsom for the CPUC to identify pathways for closing the facility, according to a press release from an environmental group. In a statement, Christine Detz, a spokesperson for SoCalGas, said that the utility worked with independent experts and state regulators to redesign Aliso Canyon to be state of the art and as a result SoCalGas’ storage facilities are the safest in the nation. “Aliso Canyon continues to play a vital role in the resiliency of California’s energy system, supporting the decarbonization of electricity during the peaks and valleys of solar and wind supply,” Detz wrote in the statement. The leak began in October 2015 and was finally plugged in February 2016. SoCalGas is owned by Sempra Energy in San Diego and is the largest natural gas distribution utility in the United States, serving nearly 22 million customers. Alexandra Nagy, the state’s director of Food & Water Watch, a national advocacy group to protect food, water and the climate, said that the county supervisors are doing their part “to protect public health and ensure the safety of San Fernando Valley residents” but claimed the same cannot be said for the CPUC. “The CPUC has neglected its mandate from Governor Newsom to find a pathway for closing the Aliso Canyon facility and opted instead for silence as SoCalGas plans to expand this dangerous gas infrastructure,” Nagy said in a statement. “It’s time for the CPUC to step up, speak out, and stop this expansion of the gas storage facility at Aliso Canyon.” In her statement, Detz said that since the leak was plugged, there have been five independent assessments of SoCalGas’s gas storage system and that all of them concluded that gas storage, especially in Aliso Canyon, is essential to energy reliability.WOODLAND HILLSA two-building office park at Warner Center has traded for $13.8 million, or about $131 a square foot. California Landmark Group purchased Woodland Plaza Office Park at 21241-21243 Ventura Blvd. in an all-cash deal. It has a total of 105,000 square feet and stands on 4 acres of land. California Landmark Group founder Ken Kahan said his company plans to upgrade the property. “Woodland Plaza is an ideal opportunity for us to reposition and provide a best-in-class option for users in this submarket.”  VenturA CountyCAMARILLOSun Air Jets has added a 14-passenger Gulfstream G550 and a 12-passenger Global Express to its charter fleet. The aircraft further expand the Camarillo aircraft charter and management company’s large cabin, long-range flight capabilities. The planes include free domestic Wi-Fi, large cabin monitors, personal monitors and a full galley on board making them comfortable for travel across the country or beyond. “The impressive cabins, the elegant comfort, and most of all, the superior quality of these aircraft offers Sun Air Jets’ customers a wonderful, best in-class transportation experience,” President Brian Counsil said in a statement. In addition to Camarillo Airport, Sun Air also operates hangar space at Van Nuys Airport.MOORPARKAmazon.com Inc. has signed a long-term lease for a 202,421-square-foot industrial building in Moorpark. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The recently refurbished property, located at 6000 Condor Drive, features 16 dock-high positions, 24-foot ceiling clearance and a secure fenced yard with parking to accommodate 405 vehicles. Bram White, executive vice president at DAUM Commercial Real Estate Services, and Don Thordarson of Donald J. Thordarson Inc. represented the lessor interest through Transwestern Development Co., which also developed the project and manages the property. Tim Wallace of Cushman & Wakefield represented tenant Amazon. “Don and I helped the lessor acquire this property in 2018 and had a comprehensive understanding of the goals for this investment,” White said in a statement.  WESTLAKE VILLAGE Fruit and vegetable grower Dole plc held an initial public offering, yielding $400 million in fresh capital. Chief Executive Rory Byrne said in a statement. “In Dole plc, we are positioning our business to fully harness the great and growing potential of our extraordinary industry.” This is the third time Dole has gone public. Billionaire David Murdoch took it private in 2003, then took it public in 2009 and reprivatized it in 2013.Real estate investment firms Amstar and Searles Property Group have purchased a five-building office campus in Westlake Village for $80.8 million, or roughly $338 per square foot. Amstar and Searles had originally developed Westlake Park Place as a joint venture with Travelers Co. The three entities completed construction on the project’s first phase – five buildings covering 239,003 square feet – in 2008.  In 2014, Invesco Real Estate had acquired the project, five buildings which were 97 percent occupied, for $98 million or $410 per square foot. The office buildings, located at 2915, 2931, 2945, 3011 and 3027 Townsgate Road, stand on about 13 acres of land. Each of the buildings range in size from 5,000 square feet to just over 100,000 square feet. Currently, these buildings are 85 percent occupied with tenants including Wells Fargo, Century Group, Regus and City National Bank.

Michael Aushenker
Michael Aushenker
A graduate of Cornell University, Michael covers commercial real estate for the San Fernando Valley Business Journal. Prior to the Business Journal, Michael covered the community and entertainment beats as a staff writer for various newspapers, including the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, The Palisadian-Post, The Argonaut and Acorn Newspapers. He has also freelanced for the Santa Barbara Independent, VC Reporter, Malibu Times and Los Feliz Ledger.

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